Illuminati Batch 1
3 Stars Brewing Company

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From:
3 Stars Brewing Company
 
District of Columbia, United States
Style:
American Imperial Stout
ABV:
Not listed
Score:
85
Avg:
3.63 | pDev: 24.52%
Reviews:
5
Ratings:
10
Status:
Retired
Rated:
Dec 07, 2014
Added:
May 25, 2014
Wants:
  0
Gots:
  0
No description / notes.
Recent ratings and reviews. | Log in to view more ratings + sorting options.
Ratings by nmann08:
Photo of nmann08
Reviewed by nmann08 from Virginia

3.13/5  rDev -13.8%
look: 3.25 | smell: 3.25 | taste: 3 | feel: 3 | overall: 3.25
Pours a motor oil black, carbonation is normal, but it's oily. It goes dead still almost immediately. No head retention.

Smell is roast and oats, cinnamon, and barrel, a sweet bourbon note.

Taste is roasty, acidic, maple, cinnamon, and bourbon notes. I am interested to know if this getters better with age or thins out.

Mouthfeel is a little thin, carbonation is fine.

Overall, this ok. It isn't good, but not bad either.
Jul 27, 2014
More User Ratings:
 
Rated: 5 by dcbeerguy007 from District of Columbia

Dec 07, 2014
 
Rated: 3.5 by cj8311 from Maryland

Nov 11, 2014
 
Rated: 3 by chadwicktorres from District of Columbia

Sep 11, 2014
Photo of mrsadd
Reviewed by mrsadd from Pennsylvania

4.5/5  rDev +24%
This is a thin-bodied, roasty, sweet, sufficiently carbonated barrel-aged and blended imperial porter.

That the Pandemic Porter is on the thinner side leads this beer to unfortunate comparisons. It isn't a thick coat-yer-mouth-stout, it is a easy-drinking yet complex and high abv porter.

This particular version which is composed of a tripartite mix of rye-aged, Catoctin Creek/maple syrup-aged and fresh Pandemic Porter is excellent. The upfront flavor of a sip of whisky, then the body of the beer, followed by a lingering sweetness of maple... is, for this drinker, the stuff of dreams. The added complexities of the dual-aging result in a beverage which far outpaces the original version.

(I opened this [the first bottled release from 3 stars] alongside a growler of Pandemic Porter and a half-growler of Woodford Aged Pandemic-- It was a whole world of Pandemics followed by a drunken slumber. This was my favorite by a significant distance.)

Don't worry if your mileage varies... this beer is not for everyone. And unless you're in The Society... odds are you won't get one anyway. I'm drinking the last 8oz of this the next day while typing this review. This is a fantastic beer. I've had better, but not one of them has inspired me to type here and review in the 6 years I've been on BA. Def. Counts for something.
Aug 25, 2014
Photo of Dreadnaught33
Reviewed by Dreadnaught33 from District of Columbia

3.69/5  rDev +1.7%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 3.25 | overall: 3.75
I think some of us were expecting this to be a mess, but it ends up pretty good. Mix of barrel and regular pandemic.

The beer pours jet black with absolutely no head or lacing. Smells good with a roasty mix of barrel oak, sweet espresso, espresso, maple, powdered cocoa. The base beer is a little lacking in complexity and it shows in the flavor, which seems to have a great barrel treatment, but the base beer leaves stuff to be desired in the malt department. The feel is a bit thin, but it has some nice roasty flavors and an elegant bourbon flavor, with a bit of astringent acid. The aftertaste is a bit abrupt and bitter a bit like over roasted coffee beans. Some cinnamon also in all of it. Lower than normal carbonation but not terrible.

Overall not bad but not overly special either. With some tweaks this could be great, maybe adding a different malt bill will make it much better.
Jul 27, 2014
Photo of HattedClassic
Reviewed by HattedClassic from Virginia

3.66/5  rDev +0.8%
look: 3.25 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 3.75
The beer pours some nice bubbly and blackish brown head that dissipates immediately. The beer itself is a dark black with brown notes and is opaque. The beer smell is not very complex. The beer has strong bourbon and vanilla notes. The beer also has cocoa and dark chocolate with a bit of alcohol. Like the smell, the beer taste is not very complex. The taste has strong vanilla and bourbon notes. The dark chocolate and cocoa notes are there and are pretty good while holding their own against the vanilla. The mouthfeel is fairly thick with very little carbonation. The beer has a smooth feel that ends with a lingering chocolate syrup feel. Overall, a pretty good imperial stout even if it isn't very complex. Sometimes simple works.
Jul 23, 2014
 
Rated: 3.25 by Olive from Virginia

Jul 06, 2014
Photo of PeterM76
Reviewed by PeterM76 from District of Columbia

1.85/5  rDev -49%
look: 3 | smell: 3 | taste: 1 | feel: 1 | overall: 2.25
Here's the description from 3 Stars (necessary since none of this info is on the label):

"What we have for you is a representation of Pandemic Porter 3 ways. We have taken fresh Pandemic and blended it with rye whiskey aged Pandemic that we had in a barrel for almost a year, and also Pandemic that we aged in a Catoctin Creek whiskey barrel that was formerly used to age maple syrup."

Appearance: ruby coffee
Smell: astringent, whiskey

Mouthfeel: The result is something that tastes like Moxie soda but without the carbonation. The beer was essentially flat and had the mouthfeel of motor oil.

Taste: It seems they were after an Old Rasputin-esque beer. The whiskey flavor was overbearing on the front end (I'm a scotch drinker so...) and then the sweetness of the maple was just a strange juxtaposition. My guess is that the Pandemic that was aged on the whiskey barrels was so overbearing that they had to cut it with fresh Pandemic and then tried to tone down the bite of the beer with the maple aged Pandemic.

It really was not my taste. It's like they tried a little of everything and the combination really doesn't work. I'll definitely give them points for being adventurous.
May 29, 2014
 
Rated: 4.75 by pcarney8 from Virginia

May 25, 2014
Illuminati Batch 1 from 3 Stars Brewing Company
Beer rating: 85 out of 100 with 10 ratings